A new study finds that Mars may face more than twice as many close encounters with potentially hazardous asteroids than Earth. This could pose risks to current and future Mars missions.
Researchers used computer simulations to track around 11,000 asteroids over 100 million years and determine how many have close approaches to Mars (called “Mars CAPHAs”).
The simulations found that every Earth year, about 52 large asteroids wander dangerously close to Mars. This is about 2.6 times more than the 20 or so asteroids that approach Earth annually.
While Mars CAPHAs come closer than Earth CAPHAs, they also travel more slowly, meaning they have more potential to wreak damage on Mars due to its thinner atmosphere.
Future human missions to Mars may need to take the risk of Mars CAPHAs more seriously. However, studying these asteroids could also provide insights into Mars’ environment and the evolution of the inner solar system.
The higher rate of asteroid encounters could explain some meteorite impacts seen by Mars missions like InSight. Two Mars CAPHAs may even be visible from Earth in 2025.
Source: Live Science
